Redmi 9 Prime featuring a MediaTek Helio G80 SoC, quad-camera array, and more launched in India

With all three Redmi Note 9 variants up for grabs in India, it was only a matter of time before the remainder of the Redmi 9 lineup made its way to the market. Leaks suggest that at least one of them is billed to come as a Poco device. In the meanwhile, Xiaomi has unveiled the Redmi 9 in India as the Redmi 9 Prime. The 'Prime' tag likely exists to make the phone stand out from its peers. Xiaomi's smartphone nomenclature can get a bit overwhelming, and it's refreshing to see a new word thrown in now and then. It will be retail at INR 9,999 and 11,999 for the 64GB and 128GB variants, respectively.

Xiaomi says that the Redmi 9 Prime is intended to serve as an intermediate between the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 9a. The phone's specifications back the statement, as it lacks some of the bells and whistles of a Redmi Note phone. However, it does run a competent MediaTek Helio G80 SoC featuring two Cortex-A75 (2.0GHz) and six Cortex-A55 (1.8GHz) cores. It is coupled with an ARM Mali-G52 MC2 GPU. The chip also supports MediaTek's HyperEngine tech that leverages the power of AI to eke out more hardware performance. There appears to be only one memory configuration with 4GB of LPDD4 RAM, which can be coupled with 64GB or 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage.

The Redmi 9 Prime comes with a quad-camera array with a 13MP sensor at the helm. It is assisted by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 5MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. The phone's 6.5-inch FHD display's waterdrop-style notch houses its 8MP selfie camera. Xiaomi is throwing in a pre-applied screen protector out of the box too. That, combined with the Redmi 9 Prime's Corning Gorilla Glass 3, should make the phone reasonably resistant to the occasional drop or two. Lastly, a 5,000mAh device powers the whole contraption. It can be charged at 18W, and as always, you get a fast charger out of the box.